WORCESTER — After being a lineup linchpin throughout his highly decorated and successful baseball career, Joey Rubin entered Memorial Day weekend having played one game in nearly a year.
The 5-foot-9, 180-pound shortstop from Charlton saw his stay with Danbury in the New England Collegiate Baseball League prematurely end last summer due to back woes and then, after transferring to the University of Alabama, found himself bolted to the bench.
“I wanted to switch levels and go Division 1,” Rubin, who spent his first two collegiate seasons at Division 2 powerhouse Rollins in Winter Park, Florida, recently said at Fitton Field. “Alabama called, so I went there, had an OK, a decent fall. Did better than some other guys.
“I’m not going to speak badly on anyone there, but I was told I was going to play and didn’t end up playing. That’s just how things worked out. Now I’m here, and I just want to get a lot of at-bats and get back to the player I was.”
Here would be in Worcester with the Bravehearts, with whom Rubin has a previous affiliation after spending the 2022 season with the Futures League team, albeit on the disabled list after undergoing surgery for a torn labrum and partially torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder.
Suffice to say, Rubin, who started his high school career at St. Peter-Marian and ended it as a T&G Super Team selection for St. Paul as a senior in 2021, is healthy, and he couldn’t be happier as he’s spending this summer hitting, fielding, racing around the bases, and bonding with his fellow Bravehearts.
“It feels so good to be out there,” Rubin said. “Baseball is where you can basically lose control of everything else in your life and just play with your friends and have a great time. And that’s exactly what this summer has been.”
Entering Friday, Rubin had played 25 games for the 20-18 Bravehearts, who held down the fourth and final playoff spot in the eight-team collegiate circuit. He was batting .245 with 3 extra-base hits, 8 runs batted in, 14 runs, 13 walks and 6 stolen bases.
For comparison’s sake, Rubin, who wouldn’t mind seeing the “baseball gods” bless him with a few more bloopers and bullets hitting the grass rather than a glove, batted .308 in 117 games — 116 of them starts — during his two seasons at Rollins, both of which ended with a College World Series appearance.
“I thought coming into the summer it would probably take him a little while to really get going offensively after not having a ton of at bats in the spring,” Bravehearts manager Alex Dion said. “And that was the case a little bit, and now he’s starting to swing the bat a little bit better.
“He’s a guy I can hit anywhere in the lineup and trust him in pressure situations, and he’s played really good defense for us. He’s obviously a local kid who is a really good baseball player and a good addition to our team.”
Rubin opted to depart Alabama after his one season in Tuscaloosa — time spent getting bigger, stronger and better — and is currently in the transfer portal. This communications major with a 3.1 grade point average has two years of eligibility remaining.
He expects to figure out where he’ll continue his academic and athletic journey in short order.
In the meantime, Rubin is enjoying the ride while playing Bravehearts baseball with, among others, former SPM and/or St. Paul teammates Max LeFrancois and Cody Smith, who both will be seniors this fall at Assumption University.
“In high school, we were four best friends and did everything together,” Rubin said, the final member of the fab foursome being Bryant pitcher Luke Delongchamp. “Luke isn’t here, but we hang out with him all the time.
“It’s good to have Cody and Max on the team. They’re some of my good friends I’ve missed the past few years because you’re in college the whole time. So it’s good to have them around and certainly good to still have them as friends.”
—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @RichGarvenTG.
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